Live-action films have long involved the addition of animated portions that react with actors on-screen or provide other desirable effects. Generally, such effects were undertaken through the utilization of long-abandoned activities such as a stand-in (that is then covered up by the animation itself), a blue screen (that allows for larger backgrounds, etc., to include an animated, or other similar, result as an overlay for the subject scene), and most recently electronic markers that are attached to objects or even people that send signals to the camera indicating specific locations and movement. In each situation, however, post-production actions are needed to not only add the desired effects (animation, three-dimensional, computer graphics, or CGI, all as examples) within the specific set places within the film. Such instances require significant investment in time and resources to pinpoint such specific locations as well as “scrub” the markers, etc., from view in order to accord a suitable end picture for viewer consumption. Without such needed marker, etc., removal, the picture would include unsightly items of this sort which would most certainly impact the overall aesthetics involved. Additionally, with electronic monitoring (markers, again, for example), it is sometimes necessary to continuously film scenes at set angles, or even provide different viewpoints with multiple recordings in order to ensure the overall view of the filmed set and objects thereon are consistent for each shot. The markers, then, may be in multiple shots, requiring, again, rather involved “removal” in post-production. Alternatively, though, the necessity for such multiple shot may only involve a single filming of the markers involved; the problem in that situation is that the parallax views of the camera(s) require such multiple recordings to ensure the added animation, etc., is placed properly. Basically, the capability of the markers themselves to provide anything beyond single shot perspectives of the animation, etc., insert locations in a film drastically limit's the overall capacity of the system to provide an efficient film recording result. The electronic signal markers, in other words, are generally provided as object capture devices, rather than definitive location sensors. Because they must be provided as viewable structures (even if small in size) for the subject camera, no further capabilities for, for instance, exact location measurements, at least beyond those involving actual sighting by the eye (and in this case, the camera), have been considered. Thus, as noted above, it has become acceptable and customary to have such markers “scrubbed” at the post-production (or, at least during pre-CGI, animation, etc., insertion) step and, again, to undertake multiple, and possibly cumbersome multiple shots of the same scene to ensure location specifics are in place for such CGI, etc., insertion purposes. Thus, there remains a significant need to provide and continuous, seamless, and consistent manner of introducing CGI, 3D animation, etc, into video recordings (such as films, and the like) without the need for viewable filmed markers and, additionally, in some manner the ability to reduce or even eliminate the need for multiple shots of the same scene to align the subject camera angles and parallax views.
The closest prior art in this respect concerns, again, the utilization of certain electronic signal transmitters (markers) that are placed in plain view for camera recording during a film shoot. Such cameras thus not only record the filmed objects prior to insertion of CGI, animation, and the like, but the markers provide the necessary indications as to placement and introduction of such CGI, animation, and the like. These markers transmit signals as indicators for such a purpose, but, typically, these signals are not provided directly to the camera operator and are relayed for limited purposes. In other words, such devices, being, as alluded to above, viewable to the camera operator during filming, concern the correlation between movement of either an actor representing a CGI (or like) character, or provide readings for stationary objects while the camera moves. Actual static locations of objects and/or locations for CGI, animation, etc., effects additions to a scene are not provided in any other way than such viewable structures. Thus, in order to ensure such effects are inserted properly and suitably within the picture itself, again, as noted above, post-production (or like) activities are needed to ensure such markers are removed from any sight lines and still provide the necessary location indications. These limited activities thus show a clear lack of efficiency in this respect. Placement of markers on individuals that serve as stand-ins for CGI characters, then, is the closest to definitive location indications any such sensors accord the industry at this time. However, in that situation, it is also evident that the resultant CGI character “covers up” all of the viewable markers and thus does not pose any actual problem, except the potential for extensive post-production activities that, ostensibly, would be in utilization anyway in such a situation.
As it is, there simply is lacking a proper manner of streamlining the film process for live-action video incorporating animation (whether typical hand-drawn or CGI types, and also including three-dimensional add-ins, as well) such that not only definitive location indications are provided for certain scenes for animation insertion, but also to drastically reduce the number of shots necessary to ensure proper locations in relation to the camera itself are provided for overall aesthetic effects. The present invention proposes to overcome these prior deficiencies with the resultant desired benefits noted previously.